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“The 3 Critical Factors You Must Consider Before Firing Any Employee”

Let me tell you about laying off and firing. I've managed employees for most of my 26-year professional career. During this time I've had good employees. But, unfortunately, I've also had employees that just couldn't be rehabilitated no matter how hard I tried. Also, I've had to lay off employees because of slow economic conditions. Because of my unique career as a "turnaround" professional, I've been involved in over 1100 terminations. To make termination easier on you and the employee, I've created a step-by-step system for firing and laying off employees. I would like to share this proven, safe and unique system with you. With this system, you'll have all of the procedures and options you need to make a termination go smoothly. You'll have confidence and peace of mind that you're doing the right thing. Please take 5 minutes (or more if you want) and read this web site. I'll tell you more about how to properly terminate an employee.

By Kevin Muir, Author of the Employee Termination Guidebook

What is your position? (Check all that apply)

Business Owner
Manager or Supervisor
HR or Personnel Professional
Executive

If you marked at least one of these … then this article is for you when you need to know how to terminate properly.

Before firing or laying off an employee, there are 3 critical termination factors you must consider. In this article, we will cover these in detail:

• Factor #1: Fight Or Flight… How The Problem Employee Will Take Advantage Of You

• Factor #2: Your Problem Employee Will Destroy Your Morale and Results… If You Don’t Do Something About It Today

• Factor #3: The Longer You Wait… The Harder It Is To Terminate The Problem Employee

Knowing these 3 factors will help you decide when it's time to fire the problem employee.

Once you decide to terminate, you must know how. You'll discover that terminating is much easier and less risky than you thought. This will be the subject of the last part of this article.

Let’s get started with the 3 factors…

(Author’s note: As you read this article, you’ll notice I use "he" to describe the problem employee. Please be aware I’m referring to a problem employee of either gender.)

Factor #1: Fight Or Flight… How The Problem Employee Will Take Advantage Of You

Even when you don’t tell him directly, the problem employee always knows he’s “on the bubble” and may be fired soon. It’s almost as if he can read your mind.

This wouldn’t be a problem if the employee would take the hint and improve his performance and behavior. But, this seldom happens because a bad apple remains a bad apple. Instead, you’ll notice that his behavior will get worse. He’ll either:

• Begin an intimidation campaign against you to save his job, or,

• Become a zombie doing little work.

You’ll notice these behaviors match the “fight or flight” response you learned in school. If you recall, when an animal gets into trouble, there are just two reactions, fight or flight. As we’ve seen, your employee will react the same way when his job is threatened.

In either case, he's taking advantage of you and your company by taking a paycheck and not doing his job… and this will only continue if you don’t do something right away. Your only recourse is to get rid of the employee as quickly as possible especially if your business is facing hardship from the recent economic troubles..

Let me cover each of these reactions.

In my experience, most employees will decide to “fight” and carry out an intimidation campaign. Sometimes these campaigns are subtle, but often they’re very public. Here’s what happens.

He starts politicking including telling lies about you, turning others against you and destroying your reputation. He wants you to suffer as much as possible. His goal is to build up his political base and force you to back off.

In this case, you only have one choice. You must show him (and others) you’re the boss and fire him right away. You can’t have an employee undermining your authority. His malicious behavior justifies his termination.

Now let’s discuss the opposite reaction, “flight.” In this scenario, the problem employee shuts down and stops working. He’s always late to work and misses more goals and deadlines. And, he spends much of his time on the phone, in e-mail and instant messaging his friends.

At this point, the employee has accepted that you’ll eventually fire him. So, his strategy is to drain as much money as possible out of the company while doing the least amount for it. In effect, he’s daring you to fire him.

What do you do? You can try to rehabilitate him, but the employee is now too far gone. Your best choice is to terminate now ... but you need to do it right.

(By the way, this is also the best thing for the employee as well. It's clear that he's not happy and productive. It's better to give him the push to get another job that is better suited for him. There's nothing worse in life than going into a job you hate and that makes you miserable. You are actually doing the problem employee a favor when you terminate.)

In the next section, we will talk about the consequences of keeping a problem employee longer than you should.

Factor #2: The Problem Employee Will Destroy Your Morale and Results… If You Don’t Do Something About It Today

Suppose you decide to give the problem employee an extra chance and let him stay with the company. What happens to you and your good workers?

Let me give it to you straight. The employee will poison your relationships with everyone he interacts with including customers, suppliers and co-workers. This is a natural outcome to being “on-the-bubble” and having a bad attitude.

Your results will suffer because you’ll be losing customers and suppliers… and because you now have to spend so much time managing just this one employee. Unfortunately, it may take you years to patch-up these relationships.

Besides this, the employee may poison your relationship with your other employees. Your “good” employees will see it’s all right to act badly and not do their jobs. Your morale will drop, and this will further erode results.

Here’s the worst part. You’ll lose your best performing employees. They don’t want to work for a business with poor morale and terrible results. They would rather work with other winners in a positive and productive environment.

The problem employee is a cancer in your business. This cancer spreads by turning good employees into bad ones and by forcing your best employees to leave. In either case, you must cut out the cancer at its source before it spreads further.

In the next section, you’ll learn why cutting out the cancerous problem employee becomes much harder with every extra day you wait to terminate.

Factor #3: The Longer You Wait… The Harder It Is To Terminate The Employee

If you wait to fire the employee, there is a good chance you’ll never be rid of him.

Let me give you two common reasons this happens.

First, if you decide to rehabilitate the problem employee, he’ll drain all the energy from you. You’ll find yourself spending all your time managing this one employee and firefighting any damage he’s causing with customers, suppliers and co-workers. Eventually, he wears you down, but you still can’t fire him.

Why? Because firing him is admitting that your rehabilitation effort failed. (By the way, if this describes your situation, I want you to know you’ve not failed. Most problem employees can’t be saved regardless of what you do. Remember… a bad apple remains a bad apple.)

Second, by waiting to fire, you’re giving the problem employee time to build a legal case against you. His strategy is to unmask your weaknesses as a manager and document any mistakes you’ve made. You can tell when this is happening when you see him taking notes of your meetings and discover him copying important files to take home.

Soon, he’ll go to a lawyer who will tell him how to make your life miserable.. Then, you can’t fire him because you're now risking a wrongful termination suit.

So why do bosses wait to fire a problem employee… when it’s obvious you should terminate right away?

The primary reason is most bosses have never been trained in proper termination procedures… and they're afraid of legal mistakes. But don’t let this hold you back. In the next section, you’ll discover an easy and low risk way to terminate even in the most difficult employees.

Now You Can Terminate Without Worry

My name is Kevin Muir. I’m the Managing Principal of Turnaround Central, a turnaround consulting firm in Cedar Park, Texas (just outside Austin). Being a turnaround consultant that works nationally, it’s my business to know how to fire and layoff employees… in large and small companies… in any state… and in any industry. That’s why I can give you the insider’s look at the “real” issues you face when terminating employees.

Although I’m no stranger to firing and laying off employees, I’m still much like you. In the past, I didn’t terminate employees as fast as I should have. I let them walk all over me while I gave them a “chance.”

Finally, I became sick and tired of being taken advantage of. It became clear to me the problem employees were taking advantage of me for treating them fairly… and daring me to fire them.

I hesitated to fire because I didn’t have a consistent termination approach. One that would keep me out of legal trouble. I made up this wish list for my ideal termination approach…

First, it must have practical termination procedures and effective options you could apply in any state.

Second, it must have a method for knowing your risk of legal action before you terminate… and it must tell you what to do for each risk level. This method must be simple enough that an average supervisor can use it without needing to spend big bucks with a high-priced employment attorney.

Third, it must give solid recommendations for handling difficult and tricky terminations especially when they are high risk.

After reading over 40 books and training manuals on terminations, I discovered that no one had written a guidebook which met these three important criteria. (And, other than the information you find here, this is still true today… even if you spend the next week searching the Internet and your public library.)

“Necessity is the mother of invention” –Plato in the Republic

Because I needed this information at my fingertips, I decided to write this guidebook myself… and I want to share it with you. I call it the Employee Termination Guidebook: Reliable Procedures & Effective Options.

The Employee Termination Guidebook contains everything I know from a 27-year career involving over 1100 terminations. It took me 8 months to write and contains practical termination procedures, options, tips and recommendation you won’t find anywhere else.

Here are just some of the useful knowledge you’ll discover in my guidebook…

• What you must include in the final paycheck to stay within the law (applies to employers located in any state.)

• Five deadly errors you can make when terminating an employee and how you can easily avoid them.

• How a supervisor, manager and business owner can take advantage of employment laws and keep the employee from suing.

• Ingenious tricks to make a bad employee fire himself.

• The important criteria you must consider before any termination.

• What are the employer’s rights and the employee’s rights during a firing.

• 8 point agenda for termination meetings. Just follow this agenda and the termination will go smoothly and stress-free.

Talk To A Trusted Friend

The Employee Termination Guidebook is the only guidebook available which takes you by the hand and shows you how to fire and layoff. I’ve written the Guidebook in a conversational style to make it easy-to-read and use. It’s like talking to a trusted friend about your troubles over a cup of coffee and getting a straight answer about what to do.

When you’re through reading the Employee Termination Guidebook, you’ll know how to do the right thing.

No Legal Mumbo Jumbo

You won’t become lost in a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo. I’ve kept everything simple so you can quickly get the information you need and continue with the termination. And, because my procedures and options are proven, you’ll cut your chances of legal action to almost nothing.

You can easily follow these procedures even when you’re a new supervisor or manager. Also, my termination methods work for businesses of all sizes from small “Mom-and-Pops” to Fortune 500 companies regardless of industry. This is a universal guidebook you can use wherever your career takes you.

In the Employee Termination Guidebook, you’ll find out…

• How progressive discipline traps an employee and doesn’t let him escape.

• 48 bulletproof reasons when firing for bad behavior and incompetence.

• 12-step approach to make layoffs as stress-free as possible.

• How to decide when a severance package is enough or not.

• What to tell a prospective employer when you fired an employee for cause.

• The five types of questions to ask in an exit interview.

• Suitable language to use when dismissing an employee.

• How to fire for an improper reason and still get away with it.

The Termination Risk Estimate & Protection System™

The Employee Termination Guidebook includes my proprietary and trademarked Termination Risk Estimate & Protection System™. This system is unique. Nobody else shows ordinary business people how to find out their risk of legal action.

I created the Termination Risk Estimate & Protection System™ because all the other so-called experts treat employee terminations with “a one-size fits all” attitude, which just isn’t practical in the real world.

With my system, you classify the risk of employee termination as “high”, “medium” or “low.” Making this determination is easy. You only need to know a few simple facts about the employee and the circumstances surrounding his termination.

Here’s the best part…

Once you have made your estimate, I show you exactly what steps to take for this risk level. This means you won’t make a mistake and you're completely protected. After discovering how this system works, you’ll never be concerned again about terminating an employee.

This is especially true for difficult and tricky terminations such as those with employees who have special legal status… and those who take advantage of every law and benefit. These are the employees who never do their jobs, but always want something for nothing. When you terminate one of these money grubbers, my system will give you maximum protection.

Now that you know about my Termination Risk Estimate & Protection System™, here are some other unique topics you’ll get in the Guidebook…

• Should you give a termination reason? You’ll find a surprising answer.

• How to overcome political factors with your boss and others stopping you from terminating the problem employee.

• A complete list of 64 bad behaviors you can fire immediately for.

• The legal repercussions of firing and laying off employees and how to avoid them without breaking a sweat.

• A simple solution to firing shortly after the employee has given his resignation.

• What to do if you prematurely fired the employee without following proper procedures. This little proprietary trick will save your company thousands of dollars (if not hundreds of thousands.)

• A sensitive and respectful way to get the ex-employee off the premises.

Here’s How You’ll Use The Employee Termination Guidebook

You can use the Employee Termination Guidebook either as a training manual or a reference source. I’ve written it so you can read it from beginning to end like a training manual. So if your company hasn’t given you firing and layoff training, the Guidebook gives you peace of mind you’re doing the right thing.

If you’re more experienced, you can use the Guidebook as a reference source. This is your quickest way to cut your chance of legal action. First, read Chapter 4 to find out your risk level using the Termination Risk Estimate & Protection System ™. Then, turn to the proper chapters with instructions for this risk level.

Here’s some more helpful advice and recommendations you’ll get…

• Should you fire on the spot or should you wait? I give you some reliable advice.

• What a lawyer never tells you about employee terminations.

• How to build an airtight legal case against a problem employee.

• 11 effective alternatives to termination you should consider.

• How to fire and not breach anti-discrimination laws.

• The secret of using progressive discipline to fire an employee.

• A perfectly legal way to give a high-risk employee the boot.

Stay Legal In All 50 States
Including California, New York, Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida, Virginia, Ohio and each of the remaining 50 states.

I have studied the employment laws for every state. It’s clear from my research that California has the toughest employment laws and the Deep South has the easiest. But, even in the Deep South, the employment laws are getting tougher everyday as activist judges are creating employee protections from the bench that rival those in California.

With this in mind, I created my termination procedures to keep you legal regardless of which state you work in. When you follow my recommendations, you’ll be “OK.” You can stop worrying right now… you’ll never cross some legal line and give your ex-employee grounds for a lawsuit.

Here’s What Else You’ll Discover

As you know, I’ve loaded the Employee Termination Guidebook with tons of reliable procedures, effective options and practical recommendations that apply anywhere. But, I’ve haven’t covered everything so far, there’s plenty more.

Just take a look at this list…

• A perfectly legal way to completely avoid wrongful termination claims.

• A proprietary 10-step process for investigating gross misconduct and how to use this investigation to justify a bullet-proof termination

• Answers to 6 common questions you may get during a termination meeting.

• How to terminate a problem employee when you have no documentation.

• The latest findings about terminations and how to cut lawsuits.

• When you must give a fired employee his final paycheck.

• The number one mistake people make when giving a reference.

• A complete procedure for mass layoffs including how to select employees for layoff and the preparation of severance packages.

How To Get The Employee Termination Guidebook

Since you have read to this point, you obviously know the value of the Employee Termination Guidebook. You’ve read the many bullets points about what’s in it.

You know the Guidebook shows you how to terminate properly. You’ll avoid legal troubles and worries. And, you know the procedures and options are easy-to-follow with simple steps.

You also understand the Employee Termination Guidebook is unique. It’s the only guidebook available which gives you the proprietary and trademarked Termination Risk Estimate & Protection System™. By using this simple system, you’ll know how to handle difficult terminations especially those that are high risk like minorities, women, pregnancy, older workers, disabled, worker’s-comp-related and other tricky terminations.

To protect yourself, you can get the Employee Termination Guidebook for only $247. It comes in an Avery binder with an attractive cover that you can read in bed or put in your briefcase for a business trip.

Or, if you don’t mind scaring your employees, you can display it prominently on your desk at work. I say this half-jokingly, but you might find it proper to put the binder on your desk the next time you meet with your problem employee. This will tell the employee that he better improve right away or he’ll be out the door.

I also give you an added e-book copy you can download instantly from the Internet. This e-book is helpful when you have an “emergency termination” and need this information right away. Also, you can read it discreetly on your work computer.

The e-book comes in standard PDF format and uses the Adobe Acrobat Reader which you probably already have on your computer. And, if you don’t have it, you can download the Reader free from www.adobe.com.

The e-book works well on either Windows-based or Macintosh-based computers.

Since I’m giving you both hard copy and e-book versions, you are getting two books for the price of one. To ship the hard copy, there is a $20 shipping charge for US shipments and $45 elsewhere. Also, when you need confidentiality, we’ll ship the hard-copy manual to your home at your request.

Payment is easy. We accept all the major credit cards. (Sorry, we don’t accept wire transfers.)

If you’re ready to stop the employee from taking advantage of you… and ruining your department and company, click terminate now without worry to get the Guidebook.

The price of the Employee Termination Guidebook compares favorably to similar instructional materials. You’ve probably seen 1-hour training videos on employment topics priced at $495 to $695. And, these only give you an overview, while my Guidebook is a complete manual showing you exactly what to do.

Also, think about the legal costs you are saving. With the Employee Termination Guidebook, you can now save large attorney fees. You won’t have to run to the employment lawyer every time you have a question because my Guidebook gives you the answer. You’ll easily save at least $1000 with just one termination.

When you consider all the value you get, the Employee Termination Guidebook is a bargain.

If you’re still on the fence, let me sweeten the pot even more for you with my Toolkit...

A Toolkit To Make Employee Terminations Even Easier

To make this transaction an even better bargain for you, I’m including the Employee Termination Toolkit as a free bonus when you get the Guidebook today. This is a limited time offer.

Since I sell this toolkit separately for $347, you’re getting a great value. You can see the sales page for the Toolkit here.

Let me give you a summary.

You'll get these tools with the Employee Termination Toolkit:

Tool #1: Top Ten Most Difficult Terminations And How To Handle Them Like A Pro

Tool #2: Employee Warning Form To Document Bad Performance And Misconduct

Tool #3: “Fill-In-The-Blank” Employee Termination Letters

Tool #4: Separation Agreement Template To Cut Your Legal Risk

Tool #5: Sample Exit Interview Questions For Firings, Layoffs And Resignations

Tool #6: Template For Quick Letters Of Recommendation

Tool #7: Termination Checklists For Firings And Layoffs

These tools make your life much easier when you terminate. They do the hard work for you. To get professional looking, legal termination documents, you just fill in a small amount of information.

I also give you exclusive download access to these tools (Microsoft Word format) from our website. This means as soon as you get the Guidebook and the Toolkit, you can start using the tools in your own documents right away.

Let me tell you a little more about Tool #1. It’s an important set of guidelines for ten difficult situations. Here’s the Top Ten:

1. How to fire the employee who tells lies
2. How to fire a difficult but hardworking employee
3. How to fire a troublemaker
4. How to fire an underperforming or "resistant-to-change" older employee
5. How to fire the gossip and the bad mouth
6. How to fire the frequently absent and tardy employee
7. How to fire a disgruntled employee with a bad attitude
8. How to fire someone for not being a team player
9. How to fire an employee for off-duty behavior and lifestyle
10. How to fire the underperforming, chronically sick or disabled employee (including how to handle workers’ compensation claims)

For each of these hard situations, I show you how to get rid of this problem employee with a minimum of risk and effort.

Why Am I Giving The Toolkit Away For Nothing?

I’m offering you this Toolkit as an ethical bribe to encourage you to try the Employee Termination Guidebook. If I can create a high enough value, you’ll have no choice but to get the knowledge you need to terminate properly. But, I don’t want to be taken advantage of indefinitely, so please be aware I can pull this offer for the free Toolkit at any time.

If you wait to get the Guidebook until tomorrow, you may lose out on getting the $347 Toolkit free.

Try The Guidebook & The Toolkit Now --
You Can Decide Later

I offer you a long 90-day guarantee. This means you have absolutely no risk in this transaction.

Let me explain.

You may be wondering why I would offer such a strong guarantee. Frankly, I have nothing to fear. I know my methods work from helping thousands of employers. And, I know that you’ll be happy with the results.

I follow through on my promises. But, please don’t take my word on this. You can always call the Austin, Texas Better Business Bureau and get their report on me and my company, Turnaround Central. Their number is 512-445-2911. Or you can click on the box below to get an immediate online BBB report.

In less than 5 minutes…

Ordering is easy. It only takes two or three minutes. Let me guide you through the process.

First, click on the link below.

Next, you’ll see the No-Risk Acceptance Form. Here you put in your credit card or Pay Pal information. Your information is safe because this page encrypts your personal data so no one can read it except us. You then hit the “place order now” button at the end of the page.

After hitting the button, a page will come up immediately with a link to download the Guidebook and Toolkit e-book.

Imagine you’ll be reading the Employee Termination Guidebook and using the Toolkit in less than 5 minutes from now! And, you’ll get all the benefits of the Termination Risk Estimate & Protection System™ right away.

And, we'll send you the hard-copy manual the next business day. You’ll normally receive it in 3 to 4 business days.

Paper + e-book versions of the Guidebook with free $347 Toolkit (limited time only)

Get it now, risk free – just $247 plus shipping

Why You Must Take Action Right Now…
Or Everything Will Get Worse

Let me give you a brief recap of this article…

Your “on-the-bubble” employee is likely taking advantage of you right now. He is daring you to fire him and is not respecting your authority. And, because he knows that he’s on the bubble, the problem employee will start telling lies about you, turn others against you and will destroy your reputation. If you don’t take action right now, he’ll continue to take advantage and make things worse on you.

Because of your continuing trouble with the employee, the results and morale of your business will begin to suffer. Why’s that? You are now focused on the managing this one employee instead of running your business. And, the employee through his own incompetence or, more likely, through his active sabotage is destroying morale and results. If you don’t fire him soon, you’ll lose your good employees who would rather work in a positive and productive environment.

Probably worst of all, the longer you wait… the harder it is to get rid of the employee. If you don’t fire him immediately, you’re giving him time to build a legal case against you and your company. He’ll start asking to see his personnel files and taking notes of every conversation. Before you know it, you’ll have to keep the employee because your lawyer will tell you it’s too risky to fire him.

Then what are you going to do? You can’t fire him, but he’s destroying your results and causing good people to leave… and he’ll continue to take a heavy personal toll on you, too. Because you waited, there is no good answer.

This is why it’s so important to take action now before everything gets worse and before you lose your chance to fire him.

The good news is you don’t have to let everything get worse. You can take action today.

The easiest and best way to do this is to get the Employee Termination Guidebook and the free $347 Toolkit right now. With these instructional materials, you’ll follow proper termination procedures that will keep you legal in every state. And, you know this is the only place where you can get the proprietary and exclusive Termination Risk Estimate & Protection System™.

By following these simple and proven procedures, terminating will be easier than you thought possible. Best yet, you’ll save at least a $1000 in legal fees. The $247 price of the Guidebook is small when you compare it with how much it’ll save you in time, money and worry.

And, remember you can’t lose on this transaction. With my guarantee, you have a long 90 days to try the Employee Termination Guidebook before deciding if it’s right for you. If not, you can return it and get back your full purchase price including the shipping charge.

Considering all this, naturally you'll want to get the Employee Termination Guidebook now before the problem employee makes everything worse. You’ll download the e-book instantly so you can start right away and the hard copy will come in just a few days.

Imagine in just a few minutes after ordering, you’ll discover the exact steps you must take to terminate your problem employee without worry and fear… and you’ll sleep better beginning tonight.

Get your copy now of the Employee Termination Guidebook and the free $347 Toolkit (for a limited time) at this link

Get it now, risk free - just $247 plus shipping

Sincerely,

Kevin Muir, Turnaround Central
Author, the Employee Termination Guidebook and Employee Termination Toolkit
Member, Better Business Bureau

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